AutumnXd
patreon
Chapter 25: Three Treasures
🕑 Added 2025-06-30 13:18:00 +0000 UTC"Spare money? A new place?" In his own home, Brother Tiger muttered Russell's words back to himself, his face a mask of paranoia. "Is he targeting me?" He didn't believe for a second that the boy's words were a coincidence; it had to be a veiled threat. But then, thinking of the grand plans revealed to him by the Spirit Begging Society, he couldn't help but sneer with disdain. This old ship of the Federation is about to sink anyway. If we don't jump to a new one now, when will we? He briefly considered changing his own residence but gave up the idea. Moving would be an admission of guilt.
Russell, on the other side of the wall, was completely unaware that Brother Tiger was engaged in a battle of wits with the air. After the attack in his apartment, he had realized that his own personal protection was still insufficient. If Kaneki hadn't been so overwhelmingly strong, he would have died during that first encounter with Gus's vampire. He decided he needed to make a defensive prop card.
Lying on his sofa, he scrolled through the trading website on his phone, looking for suitable materials. Item Materials: [Blood-stained chessboard] (green), [Golden beads] (green), [Life-linked red rope] (blue), [Broken handle of ancient sword] (blue)…
Russell's eyes lit up when he saw the [Golden beads] and the [Life-linked red rope]. He knew immediately what he was going to make. The idea came from the story Under One Person, a defensive magic weapon called the Three Treasures Pearl, created by Ma Xianhong, the master of the legendary skill Divine Machine Hundred Refinements.
In the original story, the Three Treasures Pearl was a high-end, self-repairing magical tool. It was composed of three beads on a string. The middle bead activated a protective shield. Each time the shield was destroyed, the middle bead would shatter, and the two side beads would dim as they channeled their energy to repair it, allowing it to be destroyed a total of three times.
However, Russell didn't need a self-repairing ability. In his world, even if a card was completely destroyed, it just entered a 24-hour cooldown. Therefore, he decided to modify the design, focusing purely on strengthening its defensive capabilities.
Soon, the materials were delivered by a Metro Express drone. "It only cost just over 70,000 credits," Russell thought to himself. "Even if the creation fails, the sunk cost is acceptable."
He depicted the pattern of the three precious beads on a blank card—three golden orbs strung on a thin red string, each one emitting a dazzling luster. Slowly wrapping his mental power around the materials and the card, he entered the dark, mysterious space once more.
Prop cards didn't have story requirements as strict as creature cards, but you couldn't just make things up and expect success. Russell silently input the story of the Three Treasures and waited for the mysterious space's judgment. The shipwreck he worried about never happened; the story was approved.
When his consciousness returned to reality, the completed prop card was floating gently in front of him. He absorbed it directly into his mind, and the next moment, a red rope with three golden beads appeared around his neck.
【Three Treasures】 Level: Black Iron
Quality: Blue
Category: Prop
Skill: Once per day, can resist up to three Iron-level attacks OR one Bronze-level attack. The number of uses is restored at 12:00 AM.
Chain: Can form a chain card with the card [Ma Xianhong, of the Divine Machine].
The description was concise, with only one skill. But Russell wasn't surprised; he had been pursuing pure defensive power. If it could only withstand three Iron-level attacks, it would be of limited use. But being able to withstand a single bronze-level attack was a complete game-changer. He was confident Kaneki could handle most Iron-level threats. But this prop card could save his life in a real crisis, creating a huge variable in combat. Better yet, it could be used by either Yoriichi or Kaneki in a duel.
"With this," Russell couldn't help but smile, "we should be able to easily pass the joint examination in a few days." Originally, he wasn't overly concerned with winning, but after Jonathan Whitemore's explanation, he understood the true significance of the event.
Closing his eyes, Russell began his daily meditation. The sooner he could break through to the bronze level, the sooner he could make even stronger cards. He could already feel himself touching the threshold, just one step away from a breakthrough. Beside him, Yoriichi and Kaneki stood as silent, faithful guardians.
Time passed quickly. The Spirit Begging Society did not come looking for him again, just as he had expected. Soon, the day of the final ranking test before the joint exam arrived.
"Alright, this week's ranking test is over," Victoria Song announced from the battle arena. "In the end, the top three students in our class are Russell, Nancy Whitemore, and Liam Blake. These three will represent our school in the joint examination of the four schools."
Just as Russell had predicted, he sat firmly in the number one spot, with no other students even attempting to challenge him. The same was true for Nancy. Liam, however, had a tougher time. As the student who had replaced Darren, he was seen as the weakest of the three and had to fend off several challenges from his classmates. But in the end, he managed to hold on to his position.
"Man, Russell and Nancy are total monsters. I don't even want to challenge them." "That's right, and I can't beat Liam either." "I was so close! If I just had one more prop card, I could have beaten him."
Ignoring the chatter from the sidelines, Victoria Song walked up to the three of them with a smile. "Go home and get a good rest today. Tomorrow is the joint exam. I hope you can bring home a victory." In her opinion, New Metro First High had a great chance this year. It had been years since the school had produced two students who made purple-quality cards right from the start. They had never had such a wonderful head start.
Looking at Ms. Song's departing back, Liam touched the back of his head with a simple smile. "Brother Russell, Sister Nancy, I definitely can't do it. We'll have to rely on you two."
Russell just shook his head slightly. "You're quite capable, Liam. Keep it up." In Russell's opinion, Liam's strength was respectable, and he had even made a steel fork prop card for his Minotaur—clearly practicing for an eventual [Soul-Reaper · Ox-Head] card, even if that was a distant, bronze-level goal.
Nancy, however, had a worried look on her face. "I heard from my father that someone from Metro University Prep made a gold card," she said. "I'm afraid..."
What's this? Didn't Uncle Jonathan tell her I made a red card? Russell was confused for a moment. But since Jonathan Whitemore was keeping his cards close to his chest, Russell certainly wasn't going to be the one to reveal his hand.
He kept his expression unchanged. "We won't know until we fight," he said calmly. "Just do your best."
Hearing his words, Liam and Nancy nodded silently, though they still looked a little pessimistic. After all, the gap between a purple card and a gold card was immense. Perhaps a purple card could defeat a gold one, but only with the help of powerful prop cards.
Looking at their reactions, Russell just shook his head and turned back to the classroom to attend the last class of the day.
